Finding God in the Lord of the Rings

Troy: “Dada, can you guess my favorite character from The Lord of the Rings?”
Me: “I don’t know. Sam?”
Troy: “No, who’s that?”
Me: “The hobbit.”
Troy: “Oh, no.”
Me: “The Ents?”
Troy: “Who’s that?”
Me: “The tree shepherds.”
Troy: “No.”
Me: “Gollum?”
Troy: “No, he’s creepy.”
Me: “Then, I give up. Who is your favorite character?”
Troy: “The giant eye.”
Me: “Sauron? But he’s a bad guy!”
Troy: “So?! He’s cool looking.”
Me: “Did you know that he represents the Devil?”
Troy: “Really?”
Me: “Yeah, he’s like this invisible force that commands the forces of darkness. You feel his presence, his eye upon you, but you can’t really see him. Besides, you think Gollum is creepy, but not Sauron?”
Troy: “Gollum is too creepy.”
Me: “Well, what about Smeagol?”
Troy: “Who’s that?”
Me: “Gollum’s good side.”
Troy: “Why did Gollum have a good side and bad side?”
Me: “He represents the duality of man. We all have a good side and a bad side. And we are constantly at war with them inside us. Which one wins, the one we give in to, will define who we are.”
Troy: “How did he get that way?”
Me: “Like us, he was tempted by sin. The ring of power represents sin. It tempts us to give into our dark side, and the longer we keep it in our lives, the more it distorts us. Until all we have left is the dark side. You see it throughout the movie. People are constantly being tempted and corrupted by the ring. Some resist, the pure of hearts, but most are dragged down by it.”
Troy: “What about that hobbit that carried the ring?”
Me: “Frodo? The ring changed him too, but he was trying to destroy the ring…to rid the world of its evil and temptation.”
Troy: “And losing his finger in the process?”
Me: “Yes, he lost his finger. That shows us that having sin in our lives always exacts a price. We can’t walk away unscathed. Sin always has consequences. It always changes us.”

The Speed of Bears

Troy: “Dada, are sloth bears fast or slow?”
Me: “Well, they’re bears, so I wouldn’t say they’re slow, but they’re probably not the fastest bears. I mean probably not as fast as say a grizzly bear.”
Troy: “Then, how do they catch food?”
Me: “Bears eat all kinds of things. Berries, nuts, fish, and an occasional deer or rabbit maybe.”
Troy: “And honey! Sloth bears like honey. I learned that from A Jungle Book.”
Me: “Yes, and honey. Winnie the Pooh liked honey too, but that’s not my point. You see, with bears, it’s all about energy conservation. It takes a lot of energy to be a bear and go romping around the forest all day. So, they’re not going to expend a lot of energy chasing a deer or rabbit if they don’t have to. They might use more energy than they got back. That’s why fish are such a nice meal. They just have to stand there and let the fish fly up and slap them in the face.”
Troy: “Do bears eat other bears?”
Me: “Sometimes. If they’re very hungry or if they’re protecting their territory or their babies. But it’s not their preferred meal.”
Troy: “Do other animals eat their own kind?”
Me: “Do you mean is there a chicken out there eating other chickens or a cow eating a hamburger?”
Troy [laughing]: “Exactly! Like a cow eating a hamburger or a pig eating bacon.”
Me: “Well, not intentionally. I mean cows are vegetarians, so they’re not exactly going to the drive-thru for a Whataburger like we do.”
Troy [laughing]: “Can you imagine that?! A cow at the drive-thru?!”
Me: “I think it’s more likely to see a bear at Long John Silver’s eating triangle fish. Don’t tell me that wouldn’t be the greatest day of your life to see a bear at Long John Silver’s, wearing one of those paper pirate hats and chowing down on fish.”
Troy: “Maybe.”
Me: “Definitely!”

Consequences

Troy: “Where’s my baby pillow?”
Me: “It’s downstairs on the couch where you left it. Maybe you can go get it. Aaannnddd by the time you get back, I’ll be asleep.”
Troy: “Dada! Wake up!”
Me: “I’m soooo tired.”
Troy [walking out of the room]: “When I get back there will be consequences!”
Me [laughing]: “Sometimes I wish you had a film crew following you around, so I could have moments like that on tape. That was hilarious!"

I Am Groot!

My mother and son were playing a game together today, and I heard this from the other room.

Troy: “I am Groot.”
Gammy [deeper voice]: “I am Groot.”
Troy: “I am Groot!”
Gammy [deeper voice]: “I am Groooot.”
Troy: “I AM Groot!”
Gammy [deeper voice]: “I am Groot.”

Yeah, so that happened. It had to be the strangest conversation that I’ve ever heard.